Employers will have to D.I.Y.

[tonychatisaballslessshit]

New rule to protect maids from high-rise falls

AsiaOne
Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Indonesian maids who will be coming here to work will no longer be allowed to clean out-facing windows or hang laundry outside high-rise homes.

The new rule, which takes effect today, was released by the Indonesian government yesterday to The Straits Times. It will be part of a contract new maids and their employers have to sign before the maids can work in Singapore.

This clause signals employers to take the safety of maids seriously, said maid agencies and worker welfare groups.

However, lawyers said that rule would be difficult to enforce as no one could monitor what maids do.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) told The Straits Times yesterday that employers should consider this new rule when hiring Indonesian maids.

MOM said that there is already a standard employment contract for all foreign maids in Singapore and this contract exercises 'rigourous enforcement' when safety lapses cause lives to be put at risk.

It said that the new clause is part of a document that includes other clauses, such as insurance and salary.

The document, which was introduced by the Indonesian government about three years ago, was formerly applicable only to maids renewing their contracts.

This year, eight workers have died while cleaning windows or putting laundry out to dry.

Indonesia Embassy Counsellor Sukmo Yuwono told The Straits Times he hoped the clause would reduce the number of maid deaths from falling.

Mr John Gee, an executive committee member of a worker welfare group Transient Workers Count Too, said that it was a step in the right direction, although the Singapore Government was not obliged to enforce the agreement.

[email protected]

 

[tonychatisaballslessshit]

 

[Baluku]

Any singaporean employer who ask their maid to pull this kind of stunt must be one sick bastard.

Do you see any Singaporeans clean their windows like this?

 

[Cruxx]

Any singaporean employer who ask their maid to pull this kind of stunt must be one sick bastard.

Do you see any Singaporeans clean their windows like this?

Welcome to Singapore. How much is a maid worth? $350, I'm told.

 

[vamjok]

who the fuck so inhuman ask the maid to do this?

 

[Cestbon]

Welcome to Singapore. How much is a maid worth? $350, I'm told.

$350/month.
Consider working 28 day/ 10hr/ month. That is about $1.20/hr(US$1/hr)
Singapore need to have min wage.

 

[BuiKia]

To the employer, they are worth $700 or more. To the maid, they are worh $350. To the government, also $350.

Welcome to Singapore. How much is a maid worth? $350, I'm told.

 

[tonychatisaballslessshit]

Employer fined after maid fell to death
Posted: 03 May 2012 1250 hrs

SINGAPORE: The employer of a foreign domestic helper who fell from height and died, has been slapped with a maximum fine of S$5,000.

Gan Hui Leung, 46, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of failing to ensure her then-domestic helper, Ms Siti Ustima, performed her duties in a safe manner during the term of employment.

She was also barred from hiring foreign maids in the future.

Gan is the first person to be convicted this year for failing to ensure the safety of foreign maids.

Court documents showed Ms Siti, who was then 25 years old, had worked for Gan from April 2010 to November 2011.

Under Gan's employment, one of the deceased's duties was to clean the living room windows of the Clementi flat, which is on the fifth floor.

Although she has seen her Indonesian helper clean windows while standing on a stool with the grilles and windows open, Gan never stopped the maid or taught her a safer method of doing her work.

On November 11 last year at about 1pm, Ms Siti was seen cleaning the living room windows while standing on a chair.

Shortly after, there was a loud noise and she was found lying at the foot of the block of flats.

Ms Siti sustained multiple injuries from the fall and died.

For her failure to ensure her helper worked in a manner that did not endanger her life, Gan could have been jailed up to six months, fined S$5,000, or both.

In submissions, the prosecution urged the district judge to order the maximum fine to send a deterrent message to employers of foreign maids.

This is especially so, given the high number of incidences over the past four months.

Between January and April, eight foreign maids fell to their deaths while performing their duties.

Of these, five stemmed from cleaning windows.

But Gan's lawyer argued there had not been any specific instruction from his client, for Ms Siti to clean the outer surface of the windows.

The lawyer added that Gan "accepts full responsibility and is deeply remorseful".

To this, the prosecution stressed that while Gan did not give specific instructions for the helper to clean the outside of the windows, she failed to ensure and instruct safe practices.

The Manpower Ministry said it is the employer who bears the ultimate responsibility of ensuring the well-being and safety of foreign maids.

This includes supervising her, especially when the maid is new, to ensure that she practices workplace safety and is not put in situations which endanger her life.

MOM said from 2007 to 2011, 24 foreign maids have fallen to their deaths while at work.

Fourteen employers were found to have breached the work permit conditions for endangering the lives of foreign maids.

Nine were prosecuted and fined up to S$5,000, and were permanently barred from hiring foreign maids.

The remaining employers had their offences compounded.

- CNA/wk/wm

 

[Alto Saotome]

Pay more for Indonesian maids from November
Employers will have to sign contract with $450 minimum pay clause

Published on Aug 13, 2012

Mrs Eileen Tjandra (right), 42, with her son Christopher, nine, and Indonesian maid Yuli, 26. She pays Ms Yuli $520 a month, above the market rate for experienced maids. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

By Amelia Tan

Hiring an Indonesian maid will be more expensive by year's end.

Employers hiring such maids from November will have to sign a contract with a clause stipulating that the maid must be paid at least $450.

Another clause will state that if she works on all her four weekly rest days each month, she has to be paid another $70, or $17.50 for each day off she works.

These two clauses will be in the contracts issued by the Indonesian government. But how far they will go to ensure Indonesian maids are compensated fairly depends on the rigour of enforcement - and the Indonesian Embassy's record in this has been patchy.

BACKGROUND STORY

What the new contract stipulates

Minimum monthly pay for an Indonesian maid: $450

Amount that a maid must be paid if she works on her day off: $17.50

ENFORCING THE RULES

I'll investigate each case, and not hesitate to suspend agents and employers who do not follow the rules.

- Indonesian embassy counsellor Sukmo Yuwono, stressing that the embassy will take a tough stance on its minimum-salary guidelines

 

[tonychat]

$450? Oh man.. minimum should be $1000.